Competitive mathematics

>>8792846
What do you want to achieve actually?

>>8792850
>Competitive mathematics
>I decided to try for the Putnam
come on

>>8792855
Do combinatorics along with that book

>>8792863
What about the other AoPS books? Are they any good?

>>8792873
>AoPS
I haven't read them nor I am into competitive maths.
I do believe
>"We are, what we repeatedly do.Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit" -Aristotle
So I suggest doing problem this way.
>You just can't do problems if you don't understand notation, theorem, lemma.
>Logic, combinatorics, probability and related discrete-type mathematics has lots of notation, theorems, lemmas. If need not know all but need to know necessary for your goal which you cannot know before you start but in some time of your journey. For example having know some x numbers of theorems, lemmas you are able to do 90% of puzzles then you get the idea how much you needed.
>Best practices. Do problems without knowing anything in prior. It will mend your brain to think in tricky way.
>Next if you think you have invested too much time in it. See solution. Find what you needed to know in order to solve them or what kind of thought process you would need to solve them.
Learn those stuffs keeping puzzle book aside.
>Do another problem
>Do another thoery,read,analysis
>Continue.
Somebody said reading one book for one topic is to see 3d object from single object. But a 3d object has 360 degree view so you better not read more than necessary book or else you will end up looking at same angle without realizing.
>If you want to do hard -core nightmare mode preparation.
>Do all volumes of Art of computer programming.
Its best puzzle book out there.

Disclaimer: Although I have said enough. I just know this path. I haven't myself started or decided to move along this path and find an end point where I would be better person than what I am now. But I will one day start this journey. So its a reference to you and to me. Thanks .

>>8792915
Fuck my grammar. Sorry I am in hurry fcuking day job whore motherfucker.

>>8792915
Thanks man, just one question, am I correct in assuming that you are Russian?

>>8793023
I am from Nepal

>>8793563
Ah ok

Bump since the Americans are awake.

>>8792846
I won a statewide mathematics competition out of thousands of students and own that book. I never read it though.

>>8795484
>>8792846
The best thing you can do is just to devour tons and tons of problems hours every day. I myself read the first volume of Synposis by Carr since it has tons of useful formulas for olympiad mathematics.

You can't teach genius and can't rely on others solving problems for you if you really want to do well.

>>8795493
>>8795484
>>8792846
Most likely you'll just be like me and waste all of your potential by shit posting every day until you're 20 years old and dropped out of college. I'd give a lot to be 18 again. All those wasted years. When I was 17 I use to regret not being 15 because I thought then I'd really dedicate myself to math and that was my excuse. I'd seriously debate giving my left foot to be 16 again.

If you're 18 and just starting out, sorry but it's too late for you to do good at Putnam

Anyway the AOPS books are legendary tier and pretty much all the highest achieving olympiad competitors use or have used them to learn. But again they are mostly for contest/oly preparation in high school, not sure if it's worth it when you're 18, depends on your goals I guess.

t. math olympiadfag with experience in AOPS books

>>8792846
Don't bother, just get into a college and do research. The problem books can be good to help build some mathematical problem solving skill, but the people doing the Putnam and getting top scores have been doing competition mathematics since they were 10 years old and are also super geniuses.

>>8795510
>>8795520
Even if I went to college at the age of 22, and spend ages 18-22 preparing?

>>8795869
It probably won't happen. You'll be an anomaly and would have to purge your computer from your house or something. Otherwise you'd just waste 4 years.

>>8795958
Yeah but I'd still have to do some study, I don't have proof that I passed high school so I guess I'd have to take the GED. So I'll somehow have to cure my Internet addiction to be able to study so I can at least pass the GED.

I'm planning on studying Mathematics and Computer Science in university by the way, if that matters.

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Bump so thread doesn't get archived.